Fault-block or fault mountains are produced when normal (near vertical)
faults fracture a section of continental crust. Vertical motion of the resulting blocks, sometimes accompanied by tilting, can then lead to high
escarpments. These mountains are basically formed by the earth's crust being stretched and extended by the Earth's tensional force. Tilted blocks are common in the
Basin and Range region of the western
United States. Level blocks lead to the
horst and
graben terrain seen in northern
Europe. Fault block mountains commonly accompany
rifting and are indicators of tensionali nedto
tectonic forces. Block Mountains can also be referred to as a
horst. It is a steep-sided mountain, formed where a block of the earth's crust has been squeezed upward between two parallel fault lines. Two types of block mountains are lifted and tilted. Lifted type block mountains have two steep sides exposing both sides scarps. Tilted type block mountains have one gently sloping side and one steep side with an exposed scarp.
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A mountain containing tall horsts interspersed with much lower grabens and bounded on at least one side by a high-angle normal fault.
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